Trolley-pole arrester



R. B. SPIKES.

TROLLEY POLE ARRESTER.

APPLICATION FILED Dsc. 2. 1919.

Patented Dec.y M, 1926.,

Erw..

UNITED STATES RICHARD BOWIE SPIKES, OF FORT BRAGG, CALIFORNIA.

TROLLEY-POLE ARBESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

. Application led December' 2, 1919. Serial No. 341,996.'

To all w from t may concer/n Be it known that 1, RICHARD Boivin Spinne,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fort Bragg, in thecounty of Mendocino and State of California, have in vented certain newand useful Improvement-s in Trolley-Pole Arresters, of which thefollowing is a specication.

My invention is an improvement in trolley pole arresters, and has i'orits object to provide mechanism in connection with trolley poles forautomatically pulling down the pole when the circuit is broken toprevent the breaking of the trolley wire and injury to the pole.

Tn the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of a trolley car having theimproved mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the housing for the reel;

Fig. 3 is a section at right angles to Fig. 2.

The present embodiment of the invention is shown in connection with thetrolley pole 1 of a car 2 o1 ordinary construction, the pole havingconnected therewith near the wheel 3 one end of a rope el, the otherendV of which winds upon a reel 5 secured to a shaft 6, which isjournaled in a housing 7.

This housing has ears 8 by means oi which it may be secured to the car,and the shaft 6 carries an auxiliary casing 9, in which is arranged a.spring 10. This spring has one end secured to the shaft 6 and the otherend fixed, and it is so arranged that the spring acts normally to turnthe reel in a direction to wind up the rope 4;.

The rope passes through an opening in the top of the casing, and thespring is strong enough to wind up the rope against the resistance ofthe pole. A disk 11 is secured to the shaft within the auxiliary casing9 and this disk has radial recesses 12 in its peripheral surface, whichare adapted to be engaged by the rounded end of a pin 13, which isnormally held out of engagement with the openings of the disk.

4 The pin is arranged within a guide 15 secured to the auxiliary casing,and the pin rests at its lower end on one end of a lever 16. This leveris pivoted intermediate its ends to a bracket 17 in the housing, and theother end is provided with an armature 18 coperating with anelectro-magnet 19 supported in the casing.

The windings of the magnet 19 are interposed in a circuit indicated at20, which is supplied with current from the trolley wire through thetrolley pole. The spring 141 normally holds the pin 13 out of engagementwith the recesses 12, but when the coil oic the magnet is energized andthe lever is in contact therewith, the pin will be held in engagementwith one of the openings of the disk. The magnet is not powerful enoughto draw the lever downwardly against the resistance of the spring 14,and it must be drawn down manually when it is desired to engage the pin13 with one of the openings 12.

`When down, however, and with the coil energized, it will be so held aslong as current 4flows through the circuit 20. A cord, indicated at 21,is connected with that end of the lever 16 remote from the pin forpermitting' said lever to be drawn down into contact with the core ofthe magnet. The spring 111 is arranged between the auxiliary housing 9and a stop on the pin, and the recesses 12 are rounded to tit therounded end of the pin. n

1n operation, with the parts in the position shown, when the trolleyjumps the wire, the current is cut off through the circuit 2O and themagnet 19 is denergized. rThe spring laA immediately pushes the pin 13,.

downwardly, releasing the disk 11 and permitting the spring 10 toJfunction. The spring rotates the shaft 6 and the rope L1 is wound up topull down the trolley pole, so that it will not break the wire.

1n order to replace the trolley pole the cable must be pulled out, andthis rewinds the spring 10. When the trolley wheel is placed on the wireenough cable is pulled out to allow the Jfree movement of the trolleypole. Then with one hand the lever 16 is pulled down against the magnetand the pin is pushed into engagement with the disk, holding the partsin such position until the circuit is again broken.

Preferably, the cord 21 connected with the lever 16 is run through thecar like the bell rope in order that the conductor may have accessthereto at any part of the car. This is desirable in order that themagnet may be prevented from releasing the lever end tothe pole andWinding at the other end on the reel, a shaft to which the reel is se-Cured, a casing coaxial With the shaft at one end of the reel and inWhich the shaft is journaled, a spring Within the easingand connected tothe casing and the shaft and acting normally to turn the shaft in adireetion to Wind up the rope, a disk secured `to the shaft and havingradial, peripheral, openings, a pin mounted to move radially' of thecase and adapted to engage one of the openings of the disk, a springnormally pressing the pin outward into release position, a lever pvotedintermediate its ends and engaging at one end the pin, and a magnetcoperating with the other end of the lever and interposed in the trolleycireuit for holding the latch pin in engagement With the disk.

2. In a trolley oar, the Combination with the pole, of means normallyoperated for pulling the pole down into inoperative position, aspring-controlled latch-pin for restraining the operation oi' the saidYpolepulling-dovvn means, a magnet in circuit With the current derivedfrom the trolley Wire through the pole, a lever pivoted intermediate itsends and having one end cooperating With themagnet as an armature,

the other end of the lever engaging the pin to press it into inoperativeposition against the resistance of the spring when the armature isenergized and a iexible member eonnected With the lever for permittingthe same to be manually operated.V

RICHARD BOWIE SPIKES

